Pippa Mann returns to the Green Hell to defend her ADAC 24 Hours of the Nurburgring class win, joining all-female team "Girls Only". She will partner Célia Martin, Carrie Schreiner and, for the first time, Fabienne Wohlwend.
British driver Pippa Mann, one of the most popular female athletes in motor racing, will return for the second consecutive year at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, after conquering the prestigious ADAC 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in 2021 in the SP8 class with the all-female project "Girls Only".
Mann, a seven time starter at the Indianapolis 500, will make her return to the Green Hell in an attempt to defend the title with the team founded by Nicole Willems and ran by WS Racing, partnering Carrie Schreiner, Célia Martin and Fabienne Wohlwend in the Giti Tire sponsored BMW M4 GT4.
“I’m really looking forward to driving with Celia and Carrie again, and with Fabienne for the first time”, said Mann, “and I can’t wait to get back to Germany to re-join WS Racing for our defense of last year’s win."
"Racing at the Nordschleife is incredibly tough, but also incredibly rewarding, and I’m very thankful to have the opportunity to return to compete in 2022." - she added.
Alongside her racing commitments, Pippa Mann is a performance driving instructor and driver coach and has taken on a management role in the Shift Up Now collective, a group of female racing drivers actively working to inspire and help women within the sport.
The organization is teaming up with Bell Techlogix, a leading information technology managed services and solutions company, focused on global and mid-market enterprises, as well as the public sector. Bell Techlogix is supporting four Shift Up Now athletes and will help Mann cover travel costs for the upcoming 24 Hour race at the Nürburgring.
“As well as all of the team partners who make this program happen, I want to thank Bell Techlogix for their support of Shift Up Now, which has helped me cover the travel costs associated with traveling to Europe to compete in a race", Pippa Mann commented in her statement.
In 2021, Mann teamed up with Schreiner, Martin and Christina Nielsen to bring the WS Racing's Audi R8 LMS GT4 to SP8 class victory. This year, W Series front runner Fabienne Wohlwend from Liechtenstein is joining the squad and the team moved to the BMW platform.
At their first outing in NLS in 2022, a high-speed tyre puncture caused by debris resulted in a heavy accident for the Girls Only BMW M4 GT4, which missed the first round of the NLS season. After the second race was cancelled for adverse weather, the team bounced back at NLS3, with Célia Martin and Fabienne Wohlwend claiming second place in class after an impressive rebuild by the WS Racing crew, which is also mainly composed of female mechanics and engineers.
The ADAC Total 24 hour race at the famous 20.8km track is widely considered as one of the biggest events in the sport, alongside the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and the Monaco GP.
Testing for the event starts on Thursday 26 May, while the race will get underway at 16:00 local time on Saturday 28 May.